New owners want to emphasise that there is no link with liquidated company Steloy Castings.
It is well-known in industry that Bronkhorstspruit, Mpumalanga based foundry Steloy Castings was liquidated just over four years, reportedly owing between R120 and R130 million, having been in business for over 30 years. The aftermath of the company’s closure left many suppliers and employees angry and many unanswered questions.
It has now emerged that the liquidators have found a buyer for what was left of the company and the equipment and services located at the two foundry sites named Cobalt Street and Tungsten Road in the Ekandustria area of Bronkhorstspruit. The new owners acquired the company in November 2020 and immediately set about getting the two foundries operational.
New owners new name: Steloy Foundries
“We want to emphasise that we have purchased the remaining assets of the previous company and have established a new company Steloy Foundries. We have absolutely nothing to do with the previous owners and directors, although we have employed a number of the employees,” said Shane Moodley one of the new directors of Steloy Foundries.
“Directives for the procurement of valves and actuators require that the local content must make up 70% per unit of the manufactured product under the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA). This is a requirement for all national departments, constitutional institutions, municipalities and entities, provincial departments and SOEs.”
“My partners and I have been involved in the supply of valve and actuator product industry for some time and it has become more and more difficult to meet these requirements timeously. The sector has been designated for local production and content and the stipulated minimum threshold is now being more strictly enforced and regulated.”
Initially Steloy Foundries have installed one 800kg furnace and two 250kg furnaces and on order are two one ton furnaces and one 500kg furnace, all of these are high-frequency induction furnaces
“We were left in a position that we needed to address this and this option was offered to us. The acquisition of the two foundries would allow us to control the supply of the castings that we need and the excess capacity could be offered to the open market,” explained Moodley.
“However, we were not fully aware of the challenges that faced us though. The neglect, lack of security and the resultant theft and everything else over the years that the sites were not operational or occupied, had left them in huge disrepair. Nonetheless, the challenge did not deter us and one of the first solutions we undertook was to appoint Ferdi Engelbrecht, who had been with the liquidated company for nearly 20 years, as our General Manager.”
Engelbrecht expresses his frustration: “The theft of cables was one of the major tasks we had to overcome. But also the pure vandalism was very disappointing.”
“This did not deter us and four months later we are already running trial heats and manufacturing test castings. It has not been easy but nothing is insurmountable,” continued Engelbrecht.
Stainless steel
“We were always known for being one of the leading stainless steel foundries in South Africa and it is our intention to be up there again.”
“This facility will be producing static castings in stainless steel and high alloy metals for the petrochemical, pump, valve and actuator, pulp and paper, steel and cement industries. Technical capabilities will enable the production of sand castings ranging from 0.5 to 2 000 kilograms, once we are up and running fully.”
“Initially we have installed one 800kg furnace and two 250kg furnaces and on order are two one ton furnaces and one 500kg furnace. This will give us the five ton capacity but the majority of our castings will be in the ‘smaller’ size category.”
Initially Steloy Foundries will be targeting 75 to 100 tons per month and this will be made up of stainless steel 60%, steel 30% and iron 10%
“The current furnaces are medium frequency induction furnaces that we purchased from Xi’an Huali Electric Co Ltd and they were installed by ourselves although, we did get a furnace manufacturer to do final calibration and setting.”
“The new furnaces that will be arriving soon are manufactured by Romotas Electric Co Ltd and they are high-frequency induction furnaces. The supplier will send a technician to commission them once all the preparations are done internally.”
“Maximum joint melting capacity will be 2 800kg gross (butterfly melting on the two x 1 000kg new furnaces plus one x 800kg old furnace). All the furnaces are on separate power packs and the proven melting time is 45 minutes on the new furnaces.”
“We have been operating a phenolic resin system with our silica sand supplied from Silica Quartz. We also have a fully automated cold box unit to be re-commissioned to speed up production volumes on repetition work and large order requirements. The knockout and reclaim system has been developed by Petrel locally.”
“Our long-term vision is to be a world class foundry with automated processes and equipment such as a moulding carousel, a flood coating station, a closing station including pneumatic riser removal, all automated and remotely controllable is what we intend to do. The draft plans for this have already been discussed and concepts approved. Our first part of automated equipment is the knockout and reclaim unit already being manufactured locally.”
“We have over 200 recipes or more technically correct written works instructions for the various metals so you could say we can cater for a wide variety of requests.”
“I must point out that besides stainless steel we will also be casting cast iron, SG and other steels. Initially we will be targeting 75 to 100 tons per month and this will be made up of stainless steel 60%, steel 30% and iron 10%.”
“In time will be getting the various accreditations required by the industries.”
“We were fortunate though that the heat treatment plant has been left in a relatively good condition as was the CNC patternmaking machine.”
Spun cast tubes
“The liquidated company did have a third foundry in Krugersdorp, Gauteng specialising in the production of static and spun cast tubes in stainless steel, high temperature steel and high alloy steels specifically for the petrochemical sector. Fortunately all this equipment had been moved to Bronkhorstspruit. Now it is just a matter of assembling it so the equipment can get to work.”
“The core of the facility consists of a fully equipped spun cast tube manufacturing plant and an in-house pull boring and machining facilities. From this plant, we will able to produce centrifugally cast tubes that can be supplied in as-cast, partially machined and fully machined conditions.”
“We will be one of a very few foundries in the world capable of casting process tubes in high-alloy steel.”
Patterns
“Again fortunately we have many of the clients’ patterns that have not been damaged and are still in very good condition. This is a positive start for us because initially we will be producing castings for an associated company that is involved in the supply of valves and actuators. Once we are confident that we are producing quality castings then we can open up our capacity.”
“These patterns are going to be moved to a more secure site with the patternshop and we will also build our own machining facility.”
“Currently we are employing 21 staff of which 16 come with experience of being previously employed at the sites. In time these numbers will also grow.”
“Our long-term vision is to be a world class foundry with automated processes and equipment such as a moulding carousel, a flood coating station, a closing station including pneumatic riser removal, all automated and remotely controllable is what we intend to do. The draft plans for this have already been discussed and concepts approved. Our first part of automated equipment is the knockout and reclaim unit already being manufactured locally.”
For further details contact Steloy Foundries on TEL: 013 110 2681 or visit
www.steloyfoundries.com
